Songwriting and life partners Dan and Mary Olson lead the Minnesota-based Blue Red Roses. They’re both longtime musicians--albeit with different backgrounds: bassist/vocalist Dan has led a number of bands from all over the U.S., while vocalist Mary grew up with a church and musical theater background. The eponymous debut album Blue Red Roses is Mary’s first foray into rock n’ roll; for the record, they’ve filled out the lineup with the usual guitars, drums, and keyboards to achieve a typical rock band sound.
You can think of Blue Red Roses as an album with four mini-sets. The first two tracks, “You Had Love” and “Something I Was Told” are mid-tempo, ethereal tracks with lots of space, reverb, and clear-toned electric pianos. “You Had Love,” the opener, is engagin, with lovely vocal harmonies and some nice fuzz tones gently worked in, as if Norah Jones took on a Chris Stapleton ballad. Both “You Had Love” and “Something I Was Told” include fun, unexpected chord changes. The next two tracks make up a soul mini-set. “Cocktail Afternoon” is upbeat and playful, and sounds like Steve Cropper fronting an indie band that warmed up by jamming on the Pretenders’ “My City Was Gone.” Mary then takes on the ballad “Come to MN.” Over a terrific-sounding organ, she sings “New York City’s cold but not as cold as Minnesota / If you visit me you know I’ll keep you warm.” I had Delta on the line before the song was through. Wow. The third mini-set, consisting of “The West,” “Sweet into You” and “Walk to the City,” finds the band doing its most varied work. “The West” starts as an acoustic-guitar backed vocal duet, but then it shifts into a haunting tone poem featuring some lovely string parts. Mary and Dan’s vocal harmonies--strong everywhere--really shine here. Similarly, “Sweet into You” starts as open-chord acoustic pop but they build the track out nicely with cool percussion, electric piano parts and easy vocal harmonies. “Walk to the City” finds the band hitting a creative peak, as they interpret a straightforward song a few different ways. The first time through, it could be a Motown tune. The second time through, the band reads it with a country/island feel, complete with steel drum-like lines. The third time around, the drum kit kicks in, and they let the band stretch their legs a bit as they add extra parts and energy. It’s a nice exposition of arrangement skills and all in under three minutes! The album finishes out as an Americana rock n’ roll record. Imagine a release from a solid, late-‘70s regionally-popular touring act that has updated their sound for today and that’s these last three cuts. “So Much To Discover” features warbling, Leslie-drenched organs, twangy guitars and a danceable rock groove with just a touch of tambourine. Mary finds her rock footing and lets the vocals rip at the end, leaving us with a very satisfying finish. The title track finds Mary working the high notes on the finishing choruses again, this time over some fun honky-tonk piano. Dan takes the final-track vocal lead with “Gilly and Waymore,” a three-chord crunchy-guitar stomper. Okay, there’s a fourth chord, but it doesn’t get in the way of the sing-along fun. There’s nothing not to like here on Blue Red Roses. Dan and Mary Olson have put together a nice piece of rock n’ roll work. Mary has found her voice as a rock singer! As an added bonus, the four mini-sets allow you to pick a couple of songs to fit your particular mood. Enjoy a spin!
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